


Til then my windows ache

by toewsed (audiograms)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Families of Choice, Kid Fic, M/M, On Hiatus, Original Character(s), Pining, Tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-16 21:24:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/866756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audiograms/pseuds/toewsed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sid's got a daughter he adores, friends who drive him crazy, a great job and doesn't think he needs more. That is until he hires a sitter who makes him realise he needs a home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Til then my windows ache

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for mistakes, I wasn't able to be as thorough due to my arthritis, so as much feedback as you can give would be great. The work title is from Neruda. I'm dedicating this to timesickdrunkandlovely/malkingmecrazy for enabling the russian obsession.
> 
> I'm influenced by all before me, but I hope I'm original.

Duper blinked at the ad again "Single dad, looking for athletic sitter to keep up with both active dog and energetic child, benefits on top of competitive pay include: spacious live in quarters, healthcare and generous holidays, must be willing towork awkward hours "  
"why are you looking at me so weird?"  
"Dude are you looking for a sitter or a life partner? How the hell did you convince a woman to willingly sleep with you and actually make a baby? You are so socially inept. Don't even get me started on the fact that you basically said your dog is equal to your child"  
" It's not that bad Dupe, I've already interviewed some lovely, if unqualified ladies, but I'm sure I'll find someone"  
Pascal would not believe anyone was this dense if he hadn't been Sid's friend so long, Sid was a great guy and his matter of fact nature made him a great pediatrician, because he made the kids feel like he took them seriously, while the parents respected the fact he was one of the top doctors in Pittsburgh. The problem was, outside of his practice Sid was pretty clueless, when they first met, Sid thought Duper was hitting on him despite him talking about his wife multiple times, he ended up receiving a lecture about being faithful and how disappointed he was Duper thought he was that kind of guy, luckily they sorted it out and Duper guesses he is kinda affectionate with he's drunk, so he doesn't blame him entirely. Sid's ex girlfriend had thought his cluelessness charming, that was until he tried to treat their unexpected pregnancy like the pee wee hockey league games he coaches on weekends, the last straw had been making her study one too many birthing videos in an effort to get her to 'learn her breathing technique'. Esther broke up with him, and moved into the guest bedroom after the baby was born, comitted to making co-parenting work, however a year after Manon was born she fell in love with a flashy lawyer and moved to New York. In hindsight their relationship was lucky to last as long as it did, and no doubt if it weren't for Manon they probably wouldn't have remained as good friends as they were. Esther was much more suited to motherhood when done over Skype and on holidays, and Manon remained close with her, so Duper guesses it works out.  
  
Which leads to the reason why Sid is placing awkwardly worded ads for someone to help him out. Sid just bought the majority share of his practice in addition to doing a few guest lecture spots for colleges along the East Coast, which means he no longer can humanly work while taking care of his little girl and his enthusiastic Belgian sheepdog puppy creatively, well for Sid anyway, called Blanket, which he adopted to appease Manon after the demise of her own beloved blanket in the great laundry detergent fiasco of Christmas 2012, it had taken three months of hinting on Manon's part after Taylor had taught her the phrase 'puppy please dada' and helped her combine it perfectly puppy dog eyes. Sid being the soft touch he was, adopted the first puppy that wagged it's tail at him. It was fine before Blanket came along, but travelling with a toddler, and the daycare routine is hectic enough without adding a puppy to the mix. Sid is about to launch into his spiel about how bad a friend Duper is, how he is lacking in empathy, when the phone rings-  
" Hi? You're calling about the ad? Um, Evgeni is it? You do know I can't sponsor your visa right?" and ouch one of these days Sid is going to get a punch for his lack of tact "No! I didn't mean it like that, what do you mean typical, I'm not even American! No I don't think your a mobster or a spy, ok yeah I kinda deserved that" and Duper is cracking up at how red Sid has become, the hopeless look Sid is sending him as he receives an earful from this Evgeni woman is amazing, "I'm sorry, can you come in on Saturday so I can interview you and observe how you get on with them?" the red has retreated to just a hint on Sid's cheeks and yeah judging from the side of the conversation Duper has managed to eaves drop on, the lady who called was definitely not amused by that Visa comment and was smart enough to make sure she at least got an interview out of it.  
"Let me guess you're interviewing her because you feel bad about sounding like an ignorant dick"  
"No, I'm interviewing him because he sounded like he actually wanted the job, I mean no one offered to let me observe them doing a trial shift before"  
"Ooh look at you, being all modern and hiring a manny" Duper chirps interrupting, "that's right Sid, you challenge those gender roles"  
"Shut up, why am I friends with you?"  
"Because I sold you your house and never left."  
"I guess it's too late to call the cops"  
  
****  
  
Saturday finds Sid a frazzled mess, Manon's decided she was Princess Darth Vader and the kitchen was her Death Star, however much Sid admired her creativity he wished she would do it outside, so he could bake for her pee wee hockey teams bake sale, apparently his sorry creations only sold out because he got the sympathy vote, which was great for the team, not so great for his ego. Manon is half way through interrogating or torturing the water cooler, when the door bell breaks both Crosby's reverie and shit he has to interview the manny, no, au pair, now. Well Sid guesses it's better he sees the bedlam that is his life than have him running away when Manon decides to make him wear a flower crown. When Sid opens the door he is met with a tall gangly awkward man who seems intent on making himself as small as possible.  
"Hi I'm Evgeni, I'm here for the interview?" The man says, in heavily accented English, unsure of himself, but seemingly trying his best to come across as friendly.  
"Hey Evgeni I'm Sid, why don't you come in and meet Manon and Blanket"  
"I don't understand, you want me to meet a blanket?" and Evgeni is giving Sid a look that can only be decsribed as resembling a confused kitten.  
"Oh! No sorry, I meant our puppy Blanket" and that doesn't help explain anything, because Evgeni's face has gone from confused to positively terrified and Sid thinks maybe he should actually bring him inside the house, if only to show him that they don't have a puppy blanket making factory in their home.  
"Right, so come into the kitchen, just follow the barking" Evgeni leaves him with a small smile and plucks his way down the hall, only to let out a terrible shout, and for a second, Sid thinks that maybe there actually is a puppy factory in his home, but when he gets to the kitchen, he sees Evgeni on his back, Blanket on his chest, with Manon declaring him an enemy of the Empire and a traitor. Well that's what he's taking 'die baddie!' to mean. Evgeni is perfectly still until Manon changes from defiant to scared, "I was only joking mister! Please get up!" there's a beat where Sid knows she's going to start crying, but before it comes Evgeni jumps up and Manon squeals with joy. "So are we starting the interview now?" Evgeni asks with a bright smile, still on his back, Sid answers with a shy smile "no need" that doesn't translate well because it earns him a crestfallen look and oh, Evgeni thinks he hasn't got the job, "No! I mean your hired, well obviously I'll have to check your references", Evgeni looks happy again, if a little unsure, but before he can answer, Manon pipes up with "Daddy, sleepover!" and runs off with Blanket and in Sid's experience from Duper's phonecalls when his daughter's been left with him means that she's probably ruining his linen cabinet and her dress up box for supplies. Sid uses the temporary reprieve to get Evgeni to stay for dinner and lets him use the phone to call his ride home and let him no about the change of plan.  
  
******  
  
"Pascal Dupuis, how may I help you?"  
”Dupe! You have to talk to Sid, he hired some ten foot Russian dude to babysit Manon"  
"Hi Nealer how are you? I'm doing fine, and I'm hanging up the phone, bye" Duper would give a fuck, but he not only has a strict no calls at work policy, he's already heard about this Russian wonder, from Sid who basically hired him on the strength of Manon liking him, and the fact that he just came off five years working with Sid's old professor Dr Lemieux; he doesn't need Nealer's input. He does plan on stopping by one day just to make sure he's still his g-d daughter's favourite though, because hell will freeze over first before some manny takes his place. Later in the day, after work, when he realises his wife and kids are at their mum and kids yoga class and he'd be disgusted at how suburban that sounds except those yoga classes contributed to his kids conception in the first place and Kids One Through Three (as named in his head after number four, and never called that in front of his wife) really enjoy it. Duper gets to Sid's house after a quick change and fuck this manny really is ten foot of Russian, he introduces himself "Pascal Dupuis, g-d father" and makes up a lie about Sid saying he can tak Manon out for dinner, because he needs to test the competition.  
  
********  
Evgeni looks at the man in the doorway and immediately thinks three things: the stranger at the door is strange, but then so are most Americans, he could at least be a friends because Blanket is currently excitably runing through and around his legs, and thank g-d Sidney left a contact list. He dismisses the first two almost all Americans seem strange to him, the second doesn't count because Blanket liked him from day one, that and he watched a tv show where a thief hid a doggy treat im his pocket to convince people he was the owner, and goes to consult the list.  
"wait here please" he asks and locks the door firmly behind him, he takes the phone, to call Sid for confirmation and gets told that while 'duper' can stay for dinner he isn't allowed to take Manon anywhere. He picks Manon up because the floor is lava according to Manon and heads back to the door where he's half hoping this Duper person is gone. Spying through the peephole tells him he is still there, sadly, and he mutters something rude in Russian before opening the door.  
"Hello, sorry I'm Evgeni, call me Geno if the pronounciation is too hard"  
"Hey Geno! I'm this little lady's favourite uncle" Duper says playfully poking Manon, Geno continues as if Duper hadn't spoken "Sid says you can stay for dinner so come in" and not for the first time does Geno wonder what he's got himself into.

**Author's Note:**

> points for recognising the chapter title reference


End file.
